Sun & Fun

First blog post of August. Let's get started, shall we?

It's always cool when I get to see or hang out with people from home, while overseas. Like when I met up with Andy my first day here, or when we had that funKtion reunion when Terence and Sherry came to Korea. It just makes me feel like I'm home. Of course this is mainly the case with my University of Michigan folks. I didn't even realize I had so many Korean friends, or just traveling friends in general. So I was excited when my friend Ann told me she was visiting family in Korea this summer.



Ann was in Seoul, so I got a chance to meet up with her for lunch, and I even got to meet her sister. We also have a friend from Michigan who teaches in Busan. The thing about Busan is that it's wayyyy in the South of Korea. There's a KTX train that goes from Seoul to Busan, but it's a 3-hour ride. So, with some tactical scheduling, we devised a plan to spend the day in Busan with Alex.

So Ann and I got on a train about around 9am and journeyed down South. The funny thing is, most of that week, it had been raining like crazy. So I totally expected it to be gray and dreary, but I don't think I've ever seen the sun shine so brightly. So nice that a bunch of high school kids were doing some dance routine outside of the train station.



So we met up with Alex and walked around a little bit and grabbed lunch. The main reason that people like to check out Busan is the beaches. Like I said, it's down South, on the southern tip actually, so you get to visit the gorgeous coastline. And that's exactly what we did.



We got on the subway and went over to Haeundae. And we weren't the only ones either. There were mobs of people visiting the beach that day. You could barely see the sand because it was covered with umbrellas, beach towels, and small spots of people throwing frisbees.



But who needs sand when you've got this amazing blue water



It was such a beautiful day. And we were pretty lucky to end up going on the day that it didn't rain. Just walking around in the sunshine, eating an ice cream cone, taking it all in and enjoying it.

My favorite part of the day actually came when we were leaving the beach. We were walking past this man with his two little kids: a girl and a boy. He was taking the kids for a ride on a scooter, so he pulled the girl on in front of him and tried to help the buy up on the seat behind him. However, the boy was too small to climb up, so he struggled. Me being the superhero that I am, I ran over and lifted the boy onto the back of the scooter. The man thanked me and the boy just stared; part shock, part confusion I think. But when they were riding away, the man stopped and the boy smiled and said "thank you". I highly doubt that boy spoke/understood much English (or any for that matter) but it felt good hearing it.

I also wish I'd taken a picture of him.

So to end our day in sunny Haeundae, we went to this Vietnamese restaurant that served phở and that's where I had my second favorite part of the day.



Imported beers aren't always common in Korea, and when they are, they're usually on the expensive side. But that tall, cold glass of Guinness was like drinking a piece of heaven.

So that was the end of my bright and sunny day in Busan. Definitely worth six hours of traveling in one day. Big shout outs to Ann for hanging out and making the trip with me, and to Alex for taking us around her neck of the woods. An expedition I won't soon forget.



Good times.

P.S. My boy Jason told me that his mom reads my blog pretty consistently, so a special shout out to Rasheedah Wazeerud-Din. And the same goes to everyone who's been checking out my posts. Thanks for reading.

Mexican Night

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted on here. You can pretty much chalk it up to laziness and a somewhat busy schedule. Not to mention the drinking and partying that occurs on the weekend. But such is not the case for this blog post.

So my colleague and fellow instructor, Cryn, invited a bunch of us over for dinner at her apartment. She and her husband Kevin hosted a delightful (and slightly gluttonous) dinner of Mexican cuisine.



Kevin spent most of the day preparing the food, and it showed, but that meant we had to wait for him to finish cooking before we could eat. And sitting right next to the kitchen while he was cooking can be described as nothing short of torture. But he kept us appeased with chips, salsa and Kevin's homemade guacamole (that man is serious).



The best part of the evening, aside from dinner, was everyone taking turns playing songs off of Cryn's iTunes. Mixing everyone's music tastes and everyone rediscovering their affinity for the music of the 90's (fun fact: the Smashing Pumpkins are performing in Seoul on August 14th)

But it's always cool hanging out with the Ilsan branch. We're just a cool group of people (spouses included).



But anyways, let me get back to the food. Kevin really put in work. There was rice, beef, chicken, tortillas, hard shells, salsa, sour cream and guacamole. So we had a variety of what we chose to eat, mixing in quesadillas, tacos and burritos (I taught Abi how to roll one). And though I'm sure you'd love to see pictures of all the delicious food, I was too busy eating to pull out my camera.



And what's even better is that Cryn made margaritas, and she can be pretty generous with the tequila. We had a great meal, with good drinks and cool music. I think we all could've gone comatose at that point (and some of us did)



A big shout out to Cryn for inviting us all over and letting us eat all her food. Sidenote: Cryn maintains a blog concerning education advocacy and student loan debt (which I know all of you have) so you should all check out alleducationmatters.blogspot.com and maybe share your own personal stories on the topic. She also has a blog about her experiences in South Korea if you'd like to hear another persons take--> southofnk.blogspot.com

And a slightly bigger shout out to Kevin for making doing all that cooking and providing such a delicious meal. Also, for waiting until everyone was well taken care of before sitting down to eat, himself. What a saint.



I'll have another post soon so I can tell you guys about my day in Busan.

Peace

Bon Appétit

I'm not trying to turn this into a food blog or anything, but I just had to blog about this restaurant. So I met up with Joann the other day...wait, you remember Joann right? The one from the Doctor Fish post...You remember? Anyways, I met up with Joann the other day in Sinchon. Because of my work schedule, the only time I'm really free during the week is in the morning, so we met to catch up over brunch. At first, she we thought about getting Italian, but she said she'd read about a really good French crêperie nearby.



Now, I don't know about you guys, but the prospect of a French restaurant in Korea seemed pretty cool in my mind. I've been to a lot of different restaurants, but I can't recall a French one. So when we got to La Celtique, I was definitely intrigued.

The inside was really nice. There were these random French posters on the wall, French magazines on tables, and for some reason, little life preservers hanging from the ceiling. I think there was some kind of beach theme going on, which was very refreshing since it was kinda gloomy outside.





Later on, I found out that the restaurant's motif was reminiscent of Bretagne, France, residing in a large peninsula in the northwest of France. Located between the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay, Bretagne (or Brittany) features gorgeous views of the coastline and is also known to be a great place for water sports.

It was a pleasant atmosphere, with French jazz music playing from the corner, and the chef was also amusing as everytime he spoke to us, he juggled phrases in French, Korean and English. At one point he goes, "Enjoy your sweet crepe, bon appétit, kamsahamnida." He was great.



So let's talk about the food. First off, the menu was in French and Korean, so we read through it with me guessing what the French words meant, and Joann reading what they were in Korean. But there were also pictures, and everything looked delicious. They had a dish called a galette, mainly associated with the region of Bretagne, that was kind of like an omelette, except instead of egg, it was served on a thin, wheat pancake with the meat and vegetables.



Now I'm already a big fan of omelettes, but that galette was pretty exceptional as well, especially served with shrimp (thanks to joann for sharing her food). The side salad was also really fresh and served with a balsamic vinaigrette. C'est Magnifique!

But we weren't done yet, because we saved room for dessert. I mean, you can't go to a creperie and not have a crepe, right? Of course you can't. Which is why this was the best part of the meal.



May I present to you this delectably decadent sweet crepe. This is where the chef comes over and says "Bon Appétit". A scoop of vanilla ice cream with fried bananas and drizzled with caramel. Looks appetizing doesn't it? Imagine sitting at a table with it in front of you.

If you think I'm exaggerating, just ask Joann.



I swear, while we were eating it, every ten seconds we would stop and say, "This is SOOO good." And every bite was just as delicious.

So not every experience I have over here is specifically Korean. A cozy, creperie turned out to be my favorite eating experience so far. Shout out to Joann for making another appearance, and finding such a great spot for brunch. Also, a huge shout out to Chef Charles Duval and his partner Yu Yeong Jin for the meal.



Paix (Peace)

P.S. Yes, those are light bulb salt & pepper shakers.

Two Words: Duck Boats!

So most of the adventures I have over here tend to be indoors, especially the ones that occur at night. But I just so happened to enjoy some nice weather and beautiful scenery last weekend. If you didn't know, there happens to be quite a few Michigan grads in Korea. Some I knew before, some I just met, and some I'll meet later. But one of my favorite people from home is Cynthia.



I met up with Cynthia at Hangang park along the Han River, outside of Yeouinaru Station. I planned on meeting up with her earlier, but I got caught up in Itaewon trying to get a haircut (that's a story for another day). But it was still light out so we got to hang out.



We talked about experiences at our respective hagwons, what we missed about home, and the various idiosyncrasies we noticed about Korea and its citizens. But the coolest thing we talked about was the Han River, stretching from North Korea all the way through Seoul. There were ferry tours at the park along with stores and shops sitting on the river. But the thing that caught our attention was the duck boats.



You may call them swan boats or you may call them duck boats, but the point is they have pedals, a steering mechanism and an area of the river sectioned off just for them. If you've never ridden in one, you've at least seen them on TV or something, and Cynthia was pretty eager to take a ride so we strapped on life vests and hopped in.



So we pedaled around the river for awhile, veering around the other duck boats, and bumped into an empty duck boat that just happened to be in our way. Then after we got tired of pedaling, we aimed the boat at a nice angle and enjoyed the view.





The view from the duck boats was pretty nice, especially where the sun hit the river. Some light leg exercise and watching the sunset was a nice and relaxing way to end the day. Pedaling duck boats around the Han River is definitely a cool way to pass the time, and we might have to take another trip in the summer. Apparently it gets so relaxed that you can just pitch a tent and take a nap.



Shout out to Cynthia for the latest adventure. Always good to meet up with a friend from home, especially a fellow wolverine.

Oh, and we're in the midst of World Cup fever right now, so yesterday I went to a bar with some of my co-workers to watch S. Korea play Greece and it was CRAZY. Mostly because we won 2-0, but it's just really cool being in a country where the World Cup actually matters. But maybe that's for another blog post.

Peace, Love & Duck Boats

P.S. I decided to change the title of my blog to "Life In Marvelous Times" because, in the words of the Mighty Mos Def, "We are alive in amazing times." And besides, I'm having more adventures out of Ilsan than in it.

Is That A Didgeridoo???

So there's this hookah lounge in Gangnam called Rainbow. It's a really cool and mellow environment. If you ever walked inside, you'd think they were selling all kinds of illegal narcotics to straight stoners. There's pictures of Bob Marley and Jimmy Hendrix, florescent mushrooms, and there's this mural on the side that's a bit creepy but has this Alice in Wonderland/Donnie Darko vibe.



It's a nice spot to go and just chill. During my first week in Korea, when we were still in training, a bunch of us felt like lettin off some steam to relieve the stress before our final day of testing and presenting. So we slipped out of the hotel and headed down to Rainbow for some wild mint. The way it's set up is that you sit on cushions across the floor around the hookah. It's a really comfortable setup if you get in the right spot, and we were all feelin a bit lighter.





But the coolest thing about Rainbow has to be the music. Every night they have a different genre of music playing and it really adds to the vibe. The first night I went, there was a DJ playing electronic/nu-jazz. That was when I knew it'd be a cool spot to frequent. The next time I went they played all smooth jazz and I could've sat in there forever. But this night in particular was the best music-wise.

So this guy comes up to the front and sets up a microphone. Apparently, that night was Live Music Night at Rainbow, and he was the main attraction. It started off smooth enough when the dude pulled out a small harp-like instrument and played a couple of songs.



We all thought that was cool, but he blew us away with what he did next.

So I don't know where he pulled it out from, or how he even came into possession or instruction of it, but the guy starts playing a didgeridoo! For those of you who don't know what a didgeridoo is, it's this long Australian pipe instrument that you make sounds into. Think of it like a giant kazoo. It was even better when another guy walks over and picks up a conga drum and accompanies the guy on the didgeridoo. It was quite the performance.



Korea is a pretty interesting place and you see some pretty interesting stuff, but I never expected to see anything like that. I'd love to post a video of dude playin the didgeridoo, but my internet is crappy and it'd take all night to post. Definitely a good night out though, and a cool story to tell. Shout out to my CDI fam for gettin thru training and hopefully succeeding as English instructors all over Korea. Makes me all warm inside just thinkin about it.



Oh, and just to update you all. I made it thru my first week of teaching, moved into my apartment, and celebrated a couple of birthdays this past weekend. It's been a ridiculous week, but I'm diggin it. Look out for my next post.

Stay up

The Doctor Fish Experience (Featuring Joann Lee)

Before I get into this next post, I just wanted to let everybody know that I passed my training yesterday, and I start teaching in Ilsan on Monday. It was a crazy week and I'm pretty exhausted, but I'm excited to finally start teaching and get the full experience out here. Now with that out of the way, on with the story.

The other day I was hanging out with some people in Gangnam, just walking around. Out of nowhere my friend Joann asks if we know about doctor fish and if we've ever been to a place that had them. I'd only been in Seoul for a few days so I barely even knew what doctor fish were, and it was a little too late at night for an adventure of that nature. But the next time I met up with Joann, I asked her about the doctor fish place, and she said that there was a spot nearby.



So we go to this building, and on the second floor there's a cafe. In the front, they had different kinds of bread with a mini-oven and you could order frozen drinks, coffee, etc. And in the back were doctor fish tanks. Oh wait, you guys probably don't even know what doctor fish are.

So they're these little fish, some people call them nibble fish or little dermatologists. Originally, they were used in Turkey in outdoor spas to treat people with psoriasis or skin disease. The fish eat at dead skin and leave healthy skin to grow. Nowadays, you can find them in spas and resorts in a lot of different places, even in the U.S. It's supposed to be quite the experience, so I had to see for myself.



So after we had toast and strawberry smoothies, we went over to the "Dr. Fish Zone" (I thought that sign was funny). The guy tells us to wash our feet in these little basins by the tanks and sets a timer for 15 minutes. Joann keeps telling me how weird it's gonna feel and that I'm gonna freak out. Now we all know that I'm too cool for that, but I definitely dipped my feet into the water slowly.

The second my feet got into that water, those little fish started swarming.



It's such a weird feeling. It's like a bunch of little hands grabbing at your feet. And it tickles. A LOT. We were sitting there laughing uncontrollably for like 5 minutes. Actually, I think I was laughing uncontrollably and Joann was just laughing at me. Either way, there was a lot of laughing involved.

After you get used to the fish, it's actually a pretty relaxing experience. There's cool music playing in the cafe and you sit on these cushions looking out the windows at Seoul. And Seoul is beautiful at night time when it's all lit up.



So that was a pretty cool experience, and I'm thinking I'll have a lot more. Maybe not with swarms of therapeutic fish, but cool nonetheless. Big shout out to Joann for the blog appearance, and the trip. I think the next post is gonna be about our last trip to Rainbow. It was AMAZING.

Stay tuned...

First Encounters

Alright, so I've been in Seoul for a few days now and I've had some pretty cool experiences. It's definitely been an advantage knowing people who live it, and there's also a lot of cool people in my training program with CDI. Honestly, I love it here. I may never come back. Ok, I'm exaggerating, but I really do love it here. The food is amazing, and quite reasonably priced. I've been eating pretty well. It's kind of hard to put into words, but it's just such an inviting place, and I've really been enjoying myself.

During training, most of the trainees are staying in the Coatel Hotel in Gangnam. It's a really cool district in Seoul, and there's always so much going on. Sometimes, I'll be walking up the street and see a marathon of people jogging down the sidewalk to catch the bus. I mean, old people and young people, women in heels and men in suits, EVERYBODY. I like the subway here a lot though. It's cleaner, quieter and faster than the trains in New York and Chicago. They get really crowded at certain times of day, but it's no big deal. Seoul is like New York on steroids. Bigger buildings. Wider intersections. More people.



Traffic over here gets pretty ridiculous too. When people have somewhere to be, they get there. It's to the point where sometimes you'll see a police car or ambulance with their siren blaring, but they're stuck in traffic because no one will yield to them. I think the most hectic areas are these side streets that have a really narrow road and really narrow (or non-existent) sidewalks. It turns into this mashup of cars and people that gets a bit scary. it's gets even worse when people come zooming buy you on scooters. Luckily, I haven't been hit by a car, bus or scooter yet.



There are also a lot of restaurants and stores over here that I'm used to seeing in the U.S. Dunkin' Donuts is HUGE here, you'll see one on every corner. I've also seen Cold Stone Creamery, Krispy Kreme, and of course the regular Starbucks. Coffee is huge here too. Folks are addicted to caffeine like alcohol. By the way, they don't play about alcohol either, but I think that's for another post.

Anyways, I obviously didn't come here for food that I could easily eat in the States. So I called up my boy Ben so we could have lunch at a Korean restaurant.



We walked around Gangnam for a bit and stopped in this restaurant that served dak galbi. Dak galbi is a stir fry-type dish with chicken in red pepper paste and mixed with vegetables and rice cake. It's DELICIOUS. I was already a fan of spicy foods, but Korean food takes it to another level. And this huge dish was only like $14. Did I mention that there's no tipping in Korea? Because that contributes to how little we paid for so much food. If I don't start working out, I'm gonna be fat by the time I come back home.





I've been to some other great restaurants that serve good dumplings and kimbab (rice and vegetables rolled up in seaweed) along with a really good Vietnamese place where we had pho. I also went to a hip-hop club and a really cool hookah lounge, but I didn't take pictures of those places. Maybe I'll revisit those in future posts. But I think walking around Gangnam and eating dak galbi was a good start to my time in Korea. I also bought a pretty nice watch from a street vendor for like $7. We'll see how long it works.

Shout out to Ben for making a cameo on the blog and be on the lookout for my next post with another friend making a special appearance.

Be easy y'all